All Posts from September 14, 2018

Industry Prepares for “Catastrophic” Florence

Fertilizer plants, retail facilities, and terminal operators in the Carolinas, Virginia, and Georgia were frantically preparing for Hurricane Florence as the week progressed, with one industry contact telling Green Markets that the region was “fully freaked out” as the massive storm approached.

The center of the 400-mile wide storm made landfall east of Wilmington, N.C., on Friday morning as a Category 1 hurricane,  but the advance guard of the storm was already being felt on the Carolina coast on Sept. 13, with reports of heavy rain, 80 mph winds, and coastal flooding.

Forecasts warned of a storm surge as high as 9-13 feet in the Wilmington area, pushed by winds in excess of 120 mph that Florence generated on Sept. 11-12 as a Category 3 and 4 storm. According to the National Hurricane Center, wave heights up to 83 feet were measured Wednesday morning to the northeast of Florence’s eye.

While top winds had fallen to 105 mph by Thursday evening, forecasters said coastal areas were still likely to experience a Category 4 storm surge.

The National Weather Service warned of “catastrophic flooding” as Florence punches inland, caused both by the tidal surge and an estimated 20-30 inches of rainfall throughout the weekend. “This will likely be the storm of a lifetime for portions of the Carolina coast” the National Weather Service in Wilmington warned at midweek, adding that flooding in parts of the Carolinas could be “unprecedented.”

One inland North Carolina fertilizer retailer told Green Markets that his location was expecting 10-22 inches of rain from the storm, which he said would be “catastrophic” for the business. “We’re repairing cracks and openings, trying to seal everything up, and clearing out warehouses that might get flooded,” he said at midweek.

“We’ve got six inches in a day before, which caused some flooding,” he added. “But if we were to get 12 inches over 24 hours, it would be bad.”

Carolina-Eastern Inc., which operates more than 40 fertilizer plants through the Southeast, told Green Markets that is has five blend plants in the Carolinas that were of particular concern as Florence moved in. “We’re putting chemicals up high on pallets or racks, and moving spreader trucks to higher ground,” said Carolina-Eastern President Al Phillips. “Unfortunately, we can’t do much about the bulk bins.”

Nutrien Ltd. told Green Markets on Sept. 12 that it was “preparing for the storm as per our procedures and monitoring the situation as it progresses.” Nutrien facilities that could be impacted by Florence include the Aurora, N.C., phosphate complex, a nitrogen plant at Augusta, Ga., and a granulation plant at Americus, Ga.

Nutrien Spokesman Will Tigley confirmed that all truck loading at the Aurora facility was stopped at noon on Wednesday, and rail traffic was to cease later that day. The company released nonessential personnel at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, but remained “adequately staffed in all areas with key personnel to monitor and act as needed, including safety, security, and maintenance personnel,” Tigley said.

“Our sulfuric plants will continue to run at reduced rates, and other production and operations will be idled temporarily tonight,” he added. “Following an assessment and minimal impacts, we anticipate restarting any idled operations shortly after.”

Tigley noted as well that a number of Nutrien Ag Solutions retail locations are also located in the area and were preparing for the storm as needed. “We don’t anticipate the storm to impact our ability to meet our customer’s needs,” he said. “As the storm approaches, we will secure our production units to ensure the safety of people and protection of the environment, [which] remain our top priorities.”

Southern States Cooperative told Green Markets that it operates three fertilizer plants at Lumberton, N.C., Statesville, N.C., and Darlington, S.C., that could potentially be impacted by Florence.

“Safety is our top priority at Southern States, and we are taking the threat of Hurricane Florence very seriously,” said Chris Carter, senior communications specialist. “We have an Inclement Weather Policy that we have in place that focuses on employee safety and addresses how employees will be notified in the event of a closing. The main steps we are taking revolve around communication. We are ensuring that we communicate early and often with employees and keep them informed of the direction and possible contingency plans should the impact from Hurricane Florence be significant.”

AdvanSix, which produces caprolactam and ammonium sulfate at facilities in Hopewell and Chesterfield, Va., reported at midweek that it had started its storm preparedness procedures to “assure the safety of everyone,” but no plant closures and production shutdowns were anticipated. While early forecasts had Florence impacting Virginia significantly, the storm’s southern tilt spared the state from a direct hit.

Yara reported that it, too, had initiated its hurricane emergency plans for all East Coast terminals. The company leases storage space at Wilmington and operates a terminal in Savannah, Ga., which it said was not in the direct path of Florence.

Industry sources reported that all liquid and dry fertilizer loading operations at port terminals in Wilmington and Norfolk, Va., were shut down at midweek. Operations at Charleston, S.C., were also shuttered, although one source noted that there is currently no bulk fertilizer at that location.

ChemServe Terminal, a third-party terminaling service with bulk storage facilities at Wilmington and Fayetteville, N.C., alerted customers at midweek that it had secured all “tanks, pipelines, and racks” and planned to shut down operations at 5 p.m. Wednesday, with a shutdown of all nonessential power taking place on Thursday morning.

Other agriculture and chemical industry facilities were taking similar precautions. Smithfield Foods announced that it planned to shutter two North Carolina pork plants during the storm, and Bunge Ltd. told Bloomberg that it is “tracking the storm and doing standard prep, just in case.” Cargill Co., which has meat and poultry processing locations in Columbia, S.C., Newnan, Ga., Timberville, Va., and Mount Crawford, Va., said it was closely monitoring Florence and would only keep facilities open if employees can commute and work safely.

“As standard operating procedure, every facility has an emergency plan that will be activated as soon as a storm poses a risk to any Cargill employee or Cargill work being done in its path,” Cargill spokeswoman April Nelson told Bloomberg. “We also have a 24-hour operations center that tracks storms and serves as the central communications hub to connect everyone across Cargill during an emergency situation.”

The Association of American Railroads (AAR) reported that major freight railroads had taken several actions during the week to protect employees, customers, and infrastructure, including removing locomotives and railcars from yards and areas at risk of flooding; rerouting traffic out of areas likely to be affected; staging rail employees, equipment, and materials to areas surrounding the projected track of the storm to enable prompt response and recovery actions; and continuously updating customers on storm preparations, potential service disruptions, and projected restoration of service.

Norfolk Southern Railway announced on Sept. 12 that it had issued embargoes for rail traffic destined to locations that were likely to be impacted by the storm. “Traffic en route to these locations will be held at yards throughout the Norfolk Southern system,” a company alert said. “Additionally, Norfolk Southern is staging resources, including ballast trains, equipment, and generators, and will be prepared to commence storm recovery efforts once it is safe to do so.”

Sources said the major crop threat from the storm was to cotton and tobacco, with some experts predicting that tobacco losses alone could reach $300 million. Bloomberg reported that Joel Myers, founder of AccuWeather Inc. in State College, Penn., has estimated the potential property damage from the storm at $30 billion.

One of the biggest environmental threats from Florence is reportedly the area’s vast pork and poultry industry. Bloomberg reported that there are 9.3 million pigs currently raised on 2,300 North Carolina hog farms, with most of the animal waste stored in open lagoons. The North Carolina Pork Council said the lagoons can handle 25 inches of rain without failing. Farmers were frantically pumping lagoons and moving animals to higher ground in the days prior to Florence’s landfall, but sources said the predicted rainfall totals were alarming.

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper issued two executive orders on Sept. 7, declaring a state of emergency and temporarily suspending weighing vehicles transporting livestock, poultry, or crops ready to be harvested. In addition, Bloomberg reported that the state waived the maximum hours of service (HOS) requirement for drivers transporting essential fuels, food, water, medical supplies, and feed for livestock and poultry.

The U.S. EPA said on Sept. 11 that it would be monitoring nine Superfund sites in Florence’s path for potential flooding. These include the former smelting operations of Macalloy Corp. in Charleston, S.C.; the former lumber and fertilizer facilities of Koppers Co. Inc., also in Charleston; the 42-acre Horton Iron and Metal site in Wilmington, where fertilizer production took place from 1911 to 1954; and the FCX Inc. site in Beaufort County, N.C., a former farm-supply distribution center.

Also of concern were more than two dozen massive coal ash pits owned by Duke Energy, and 11 nuclear reactors that Duke operates at six sites in the Carolinas.